Pit stop

A pit stop is when an F1 car comes into the pit lane during a race for a tyre change, now down to a science that's shaved the process to barely more than a second and a half at the elite level. A full crew of around 20 mechanics works the car simultaneously, three per wheel plus jack operators, each specialising in one motion: loosening the nut, pulling the old tyre, seating the new one, tightening again. The current record sits at 1.80 seconds, set by McLaren at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, a mark so fast that the car spends more time slowing into the box and accelerating out of it than it does actually stationary. Refuelling was banned in 2011, which is the single biggest reason stops got this fast: without fuel rigs to manage, the entire operation became purely about tyres. Record history at Guinness World Records.